Bowie Maryland Legal Blog

As you get in your car every day and drive to or from work, shuttle your kids, do errands and more you may likely pass by accidents from time to time. You might even see an accident happen. With any luck you are not involved in a crash but know that the possibility of being in a motor vehicle accident does always exist. Many things like tougher laws and improved safety features in vehicles have attempted to reduce or ideally eliminate crashes yet they still happen.

As shown by data reported from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Maryland has seen a slight decline in the overall number of people killed in automotive accidents. However, that does not mean the roads and highways around the state are completely safe. In 2016 alone, 505 people lost their lives on the state's roads. Negligent behavior and choices made by drivers continue to be major contributing factors in accidents as that year 130 people were killed at the hands of drunk drivers. Another 127 perished in crashes involving excess speed.

On behalf of Reinstein, Glackin & Herriott, LLC on Thursday, August 2, 2018.

Going through a normal divorce in Maryland can be a stressful and tiresome process, but going through a high-asset divorce puts it on a different level. Along with the standard divorce obstacles, couples with higher assets worry about intimate details that the public gets to find out if there were standard court procedures for the assets.

Whether you are the CEO of a company, a business owner or a public figure, having your divorce details open for everyone to see could be dangerous for your family and professional life. There are private ways you can settle this process, and you should know why that might be more beneficial for you and your ex.

When it comes to medical mistakes, many people in Maryland might not always think about errors made regarding their prescription medications. Instead things like surgical errors or misdiagnosis come to mind. Yet, the fact remains that errors involving medication can and do happen and they can cause serious injury or even death in some cases. While there may be no way to 100-percent prevent such a problem, there are definitely things you can do to reduce your chance of experiencing this type of medical error.

For people who have a hospital stay for any length of time, WebMD recommends that they do not just blindly assume that the medications given to them by a nurse are correct at all times. Every time you are presented with a medication, you should feel empowered to ask the nurse who the drug is for to ensure it is really for you as well as what you are being given the medication for. This is also something a family member can do for you if you are unable to.

Maryland spouses who are contemplating divorce but also struggling with serious debt may logically wonder if filing for bankruptcy is a good option for them. In addition, they may want to determine the best timing for a bankruptcy relative to their divorce to know which should come first.

Bankrate indicates that this decision should not be made lightly for several reasons. Even when still married, a person can file for a solo, not joint, bankruptcy. If that happens and that person is able to eliminate their responsibility for some debt that was in both people's names, that may leave the other spouse on the hook for the debt.

While those who choose to ride as passengers in vehicles in Bowie may not realize it, they may be inadvertently placing a great deal of trust in said vehicles' drivers. Often, that trust may be considered to be rarely misplaced given that passengers typically know those who are driving them. However, they may not fully appreciate how much their drivers' actions can end up effecting them. If such actions result in car accidents, then those same passengers might be left in the unenviable position of seeking compensation from those same acquaintances they were so willing to trust. While no one may want to have to make such a choice, circumstances may often mandate it.

It is yet to be seen if such action will be among the outcomes of a recent accident in Myersville. While three cars ended up being involved in the collision, only the occupants of one were reported to be injured. That vehicle reportedly rolled onto its side across two lanes of traffic after leaving the road and striking a guardrail. The two other oncoming vehicles were then unable to avoid colliding with it. The Pikesville man driving the vehicle that initiated the accident was killed in the collision, while his two passengers were injured.

You and others in Bowie have been inundated with stories and statistics detailing the dangers that drunk or drowsy drivers pose. Yet another class of drivers exists that might be equally as dangerous: distracted drivers. You might only envision those who talk or text on their phones while behind the wheel as being distracted, yet drivers who choose to engage in activities as seemingly simple as eating also qualify as such. How dangerous can those who eat while driving be? Just ask any of the clients that we here at Reinstein Glackin & Herriott have worked with who have been hit by them.

Information compiled through a joint effort between The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and The Auto Alliance shows that drivers who eat or drink while behind the wheel 3.6 times more likely to be involved in accidents than those who do not. Yet few seem to be aware of this fact, as evidenced by additional data showing that 70 percent of drivers admit to eating while operating their vehicles.

If you and your spouse in Maryland have come to the conclusion that your marriage is no longer working and is beyond repair, you are now at a point where you have to make some major decisions. If you own a home together, what to do with your house will be one of those decisions. It is not uncommon for people to want to work hard to save their homes and stay in them, especially if they have young children. However, that may not be in your best interest.

As explained by Bankrate, there can be many gotchas if one person tries to stay in the family home without refinancing the mortgage into their name only. If you are the spouse who is willing to leave the home and let your former partner stay, you need to understand these.

Maryland residents and those in all other states are likely to have heard at least a little about the opioid crisis in the U.S. The gist of the issue is that a lot of Americans are now hooked on opioid painkillers, prescribed by their doctors.

CNN reports that more and more, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration is holding doctors responsible for patient overdoses. Some are being charged with murder. The first one to be convicted was California’s Dr. Hsiu-Ying Tsend in 2015, who is serving a minimum, 30-year prison sentence. In 2016, a Texas doctor was charged with illegally distributing pills to seven patients who died. Another doctor in Oklahoma faces murder charges in five cases.

It is true that divorce proceedings in Bowie can often get complicated, but there are times when that might be necessary. For as much as you do not want to drag out your divorce proceedings, you also want to ensure that whatever assets are shared between you are indeed divided fairly and equitably. One of these is your 401k. Depending on how long you have worked, this could be one of your most valuable assets. Many in your same position have come to us here at Reinstein, Glackin & Herriott asking for advice on how to best split this asset. Unfortunately, there may not be an easy answer to that question.

The easiest course of action may be to obtain a Qualified Domestic Relations Order that gives permission to your plan administrator to pay out funds to an alternate recipient (your ex-spouse, in this case). He or she then would likely have to roll those funds over into another 401k or IRA account. This method may offer the fewest financial hurdles, yet it does not give your ex-spouse instant access to his or her money.

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